BY MADIE SUTTMAN
Introduction & Research MY STORY I am Chinese American. I was born in China, but adopted and raised in America. I grew up not knowing much about China and I never wanted to embrace my heritage until I reached adulthood. I had many challenges understanding how to learn or where to learn about my heritage. There was a whole world unknown to me and still is, but I was I able to find some of it, through eating and cooking. After learning more about the culture and history through this bridge, I wanted to see how I could develop this idea and teach others about Chinese culture through
TRENDS AND INSIGHTS
Trend #1: A New Dining Experience
Trend #3: Food Tourism
Dining and restaurant culture is such a vital part of our social society. We are social creatures and mingling over a shared meal is a great way to bond with friends and family. We are constantly searching for ways to elevate that experience, whether it be just in the meal itself or in the setting we eat the meal. We have different expectations of what a dining experience is. We expect more regulations and rules, but we also expect more creativity.
Food is an essential for human life. It has also become a significant representation of a country and it’s people. Choosing places to eat that represent the country and people of the place you are traveling immerses you into the history and culture more than you’d ever expect. While current events have caused us to travel internationally, other activities like cooking and dining at authentic restaurants are a great escape into culture and cuisine.
Insight #1: In-person Community & Engagement After a year in the pandemic, people are becoming exhausted from staying at home and being virtual majority of the time. As important as technology is to us, we also crave the real life and community. We want to spend time with friends and family and become more involved with the community again. We are eager, but cautious. Our society continues to take precautions while feeling some normalcy.
DIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES Even though the Asian population make up a small percentage of the population, we have made an impact on the American history and how it became today. Unfortunately, Chinese and all Asian Americans have fallen into this stereotypes and false assumptions which Race & Ethnicity in the U.S. 2018
Top 6 Asian Groups in the U.S. 2015 12.3%
60.2% White 5.56% Asian 18.3% Hispanic 1.09% Other
2.54% Mixed
3.9 M
5M
4M
2M
1.8 M 1.4 M
Chinese
Vietnamese
Indian
Korean
Filipino
Japanese
Statistics from Pew Research Center analysis of 2013-2015 American Community Survey (IPUMS).
Statistics from Data USA
Chinese Population Per Metropolitan Area
119,000 Seattle, WA
153,000 Boston, MA 798,000 New York, NY
124,000 Chicago, IL
519,000 San Francisco, CA 194,000 San Jose, CA
5,359 Cincinnati, OH
125,000 Washington, DC
604,000 Los Angeles, CA
114,000 Honolulu, HI
99,000 Houston, TX
Statistics from Pew Research Center analysis of 2013-2015 American Community Survey (IPUMS).
The Rise of Chinatowns & The Legacy of Chop Suey THE RISE OF CHINATOWNS In the 1850s,Chinese Immigrants, predominantly from Guangdong Province, came to the United States of America in hopes to find good fortune and gold. Many found that the stories of fortune and gold were just tales and were forced into low paying jobs. Eventually, white Americans feared for their jobs as more Asian Laborers came to work in the U.S. In the 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act to prevent immigration and naturalization solely based on race. This law caused a lot of restrictions and hardships on the Chinese Americans which caused Chinatowns to come about. The United States’ Chinatowns began as ethnic settlements and eventually became restricted communities that only allowed Chinese to live and work. Today, Chinatown are known as cultural hubs of food, people, and history. The design of Chinatown originated to increase tourism. Chinatown became successful because they used their foreign ancient design as a benefit to them. If you travel to China, most modern cities will not have pagodas, dragon gates or decorative motifs. They will look like most western cities. The Chinese used the same formula for their design as they did in their food, “exotic, but familiar” when designing Chinatowns. Americans loved it, financially it was a success, but it also furthered stereotypes about Chinese.
THE LEGACY OF CHOP SUEY Chinese food is an American staple for a lot of people, but Chinese takeout is known to be part of the American Cuisine not China. Dishes like General Tso’s, Chop Suey, Beef and Broccoli, and Orange Chicken all came from the United States. How did “Chinese” food become so popular in United States? The Chinese were very hated by white Americans during the 1800’s. It was not until this magical and exotic dish came along called Chop Suey. This caused white Americans to flock to Chinese restaurants during the early 1900’s. Chop Suey is translated as “odds and ends”, but became a random mixture of meat typically of chicken, fish, beef, shrimp, or pork with eggs and cooked with vegetable such as bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and onions and served with rice or noodles. China had never heard of the dish until decades after it was developed in the United States. All the Chinese restaurateurs began creating familiar but, exotic food similar to the Chop Suey to keep Americans coming. Chinese food was no longer truly authentic, but it was what Americans wanted it to be. These dishes have become American classics. Chinese American food taste delicious, but there so much more to Chinese food that meets the eye.
Redefining the Chinese American THE NEW GENERATION All throughout the country Chinese American chefs have challenged the norms of Chinese American Cuisine by reinventing it. They are changing the way we look at Chinese American culture and making it something entirely new. They are bringing back flavors and techniques of the past while modernizing the taste and ingredients of the dish itself as well as vice versa. Something like this has never been done before. Notable people like Brandon Jew and Lucas Sin are introducing Chinese cuisine in a whole new way. We also have cooks like Fuchsia Dunlop who aren’t Chinese, but has highly advanced knowledge of Sichuan cuisine and is sharing it with the western world. We are tasting different regions that expand way beyond the typical Cantonese Americanized flavors we are use too. The new Chinese American Cuisine has infinite possibilities right now. It is evolving into a more authentic representation of Chinese food while breaking boundaries of modern cuisine. One the other hand, recent events like Covid-19 have created a surge in hate and racist attacks against Chinese and Asians in America. Since the virus started in Wuhan, China. Assumptions of Asians began to rise. “Chinese are accused of being the primary bearers of the disease, drawing from nineteenth-century stereotypes that they are dirty and disgusting” (New Yorker). When racist attacks on Asians and Asians Americans occurred, it left a lot of people wondering where they fit in the American mold.
301 Ludlow Ave. Cincinnati, OH 450219 CLIFTON GASLIGHT DISTRICT Neighborhood: Clifton Built in: 1906 Square footage: 12,000 sq ft. Building Zoning: Commercial Includes: Full basement, Two floors Ludlow Fire Station was built in 1906 and is located in the Clifton Gaslight District. The commercial building is 12,000 sq ft. and includes full basement and two floors. The businesses around include a full range of bars, restaurants, retail, and other diverse local shops. The location is ideal due to proximity to University to Cincinnati and the surrounding neighborhood providing many opportunities. This area also has a wide range of race and ethnicities compared to other neighborhoods in the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area. This opportunity allowed for more Asian communities to come together in an urban setting and non Asians to be apart of the community. The area is also very walkable and accessible within the neighborhood. Clifton’s age demographic is primarily 22-39 yr old while still having range of ages which allows me to understand how and who to appeal to.
S.W.O.T ANALYSIS Strengths
Weaknesses
• Vertical Building Opportunities • Located on an intersection • Flexible open space
• Minimal green space • No Storefront • Need to protect exterior Historic preservation
Opportunities
Threats
• Collaboration with local business • More Representation of Asian culture in the area • Unique education in the area
• Too much restaurant competition around • Small Asian population in OTR
ZONING
Commercia ACCESSIBILITY
Pedestrian
Car
Second Floor
EXISTING CONDITIONS
70.8% White
14.5% Black 7.2% Asian 0.9% Other
2.8% Hispanic
AGE
First Floor
3.8% Mixed
8.73% 0-9 yrs 16.99% 10-21 yrs 33.94% 22-39 yrs 14.94% 40-54 yrs 20.66% 55-74 yrs 4.62% 75-85+ yrs
Basement Floor
al
RACE & ETHNICITY
Residential
Public Transport
Bike
CLIFTON NEIGHBORHOOD CINCINNATI, OH
EXISTING URBAN FABRIC
Spatial & Richard Serra Diagrams
These series of diagrams began as an exercise to understand the building I chose in a three dimensional format. Initially, I began by creating spatial diagrams and layering them with one another. I took into consideration factors such as hierarchy, pattern, subtraction, lighting and circulation and many more. For my next step, I used inspiration from Richard Serra’s verb list and created another series of diagrams to continue thinking of my space in a conceptual format. For the final step, I was able to create three composite drawings that assisted me with my design and space planning.
ZONING & SPACE PROGRAMING
Public Private Adjacent Buildings Outdoor
Entry Food Market Mezzanine Banquet Room Outdoor dining Water Closet Back of House
The Night Market
A UNIQUE FOOD STAND & DINING EXPERIENCE
The Night Market is a place for the community to engage safely indoors and outdoors to experience authentic and new Chinese cuisine. My goal was to create a hospitality space that created representation and celebration of Chinese culture while giving a space to the community. The space is designed to be a hybrid of fast causal and food hall while allowing the essence of the sit down and stay awhile ambiance. This space is accessible for students who want to study all day as well families that live near by and want to grab dinner that night. The space is also open for an easy grab and go during lunch time or dinner. The Night Market will become a home for any Asian and Asian American. The space will host events, have a social media presence and encourage further knowledge on Chinese and Asian American culture and history.
DESIGN CONCEPT
Utilize food as a bridge for culture
Create safe places within public spaces
Promote Local Tourism
Design for experiential dining
Offer Opportunities for Community
Create greater awareness authentic Chinese Culture
BASEMENT & FIRST FLOOR PLAN
First Floor Plan
Basement Plan
SECOND & THIRD FLOOR PLAN
Third Floor Plan
Mezzanine Plan
LONGITUDINAL & TRANSVERSE SECTION
Longitudinal Section
Transverse Section
Night Market First Floor
The Hawker Stand
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n by taking influences from food markets started incorporating these concepts into footprint building and stimulating a street o took heavy inspiration from other Asian ore’s Hawker culture which is an essential od stand will specialize in a type of cuisine. stand is to not only work for the user, but also help represent the dish being served.
Mezzanine Dining Area
Thank you! BY MADIE SUTTMAN